This invention relates to a cable stripping tool and, in particular, to an improved tool for the removal of sheathing from multiple conductor ribbon cables.
Multiconductor ribbon cables, in which the individual conductor elements are aligned in a parallel relationship along a plane, are often utilized in electronic equipment when it is necessary to create a plurality of independent electrical signal paths between two locations within the equipment. In such ribbon cables each individual conductor element is individually insulated, and the group of individually insulated conductors are surrounded by an electromagnetic shielding sheath and an insulating sheath which defines the cable proper. In order to utilize such ribbon cables in the equipment it is necessary to remove a section of the electromagnetic shielding sheath and insulating sheath to provide access to the ends of the individual conductor elements.
Numerous methods and apparatus have been utilized to strip such sheaths from ribbon cable. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,871 of Apr. 4, 1978 to Knuth discloses an electrician's wire stripping tool, which includes a blade which may be drawn over the ribbon cable to remove the insulating sheath and expose the individual conductors. The conductors must then be separated from the other side of the insulating sheath. U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,217 of Oct. 17, 1978 to Rodd et al., discloses a method and apparatus in which the insulating sheath is slit along its length between the edge portions of the sheath and the outermost conductors. Simultaneous with such slitting, the cable is slit across the edge portions of the insulation and through one side of the insulation between the edge portions.
This prior art, which is illustrative of prior art in general, suffers from one or more disadvantages, such as an inability to adapt to ribbon cables of various widths, an inability to readily compensate for different thicknesses of insulation; the inability to strip electromagnetic shielding sheaths; the need for precise positioning; or the need for relatively complex, power-driven parts. There thus is a need for a ribbon cable stripping apparatus which is inexpensive, hand operable, fully adjustable to a wide range of cable widths, and which can effectively strip both insulating jacketing and electromagnetic shielding sheaths from the ribbon cable.